Position controlling mechanism for chin guard and visor plate of helmet

ABSTRACT

The position controlling mechanism is provided to be pivotally mounted on a side of a full-faced helmet for adjusting the positions of a chin guard and a visor plate of the helmet. The position controlling mechanism includes at least a chin guard, at least a spring, at least a rotor, at least a visor plate, at least an interaction gear, at least a transmission gear, at least a rotative element, at least an elastic ring and at least a visor plate base. After the position controlling mechanism being assembled, the rotor is capable of being rotated to transmit rotation to a gear chain, so as for the chin guard and the visor plate to be moved between activated and retracted positions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention is related to a position controlling mechanismpivotally mounted on a side of a full-faced helmet for adjusting thepositions of a chin guard and a visor plate of the helmet, and moreparticularly to a position controlling mechanism which includes a rotorbeing rotated to transmit rotation to a gear chain, so as for the chinguard and the visor plate to be moved between activated and retractedpositions.

2. Description of the Related Art

For the sake of safety, safety helmets are necessarily worn to protect arider's head from the force incurred by a possible strike with anexternal object while riding motorcycles. These safety helmets areeither full-faced or open-faced and generally have a visor plateattachable to the helmet and rotatable with respect to the helmet.Open-faced helmets are light, ventilative and convenient to wear, butthey can not provide full protection for a wearer's face and chin fromcold wind or rain. Therefore, full-faced helmets are more popularly wornto satisfy a wearer's need for face and chin protection.

However, general full-faced helmets have a chin guard which is integralwith the helmet, and it is very unconvenient for a rider to wear or takeoff this kind of integral full-faced helmets because of the fixed chinguard.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, one primaryobjective of the present invention is to provide a position controllingmechanism for a chin guard and a visor plate of a full-faced helmet thatsubstantially obviates the drawbacks of the related prior art.

Another primary objective of the present invention is to provide aposition controlling mechanism that is pivotally mounted on a side of afull-faced helmet for adjusting the positions of a chin guard and avisor plate.

Still another primary objective of the present invention is to provide aposition controlling mechanism that can be easily operated according tothe movement of a chin guard and a visor plate between activated andretracted positions.

To realize these advantages, the present invention provides a positioncontrolling mechanism pivotally mounted on a side of a full-faced helmetfor adjusting the positions of a chin guard and a visor plate of thehelmet. The position controlling mechanism includes at least a chinguard, at least a spring, at least a rotor, at least a visor plate, atleast an interaction gear, at least a transmission gear, at least arotative element, at least an elastic ring and at least a visor platebase. After the position controlling mechanism being assembled, therotor is capable of being rotated to transmit rotation to a gear chain,so as for the chin guard and the visor plate to be moved betweenactivated and retracted positions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention as well as a preferred mode of use, further features andadvantages thereof will best be understood by reference to the followingdetailed description of the illustrative embodiment when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of the preferred embodiment of theposition controlling mechanism for a chin guard and a visor plate of ahelmet in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the positioncontrolling mechanism for a chin guard and a visor plate of a helmet inan assembled configuration in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the positioncontrolling mechanism for a chin guard and a visor plate of a helmet inan assembled configuration in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the preferred embodiment of theposition controlling mechanism in accordance with the present inventionbeing mounted on a side of a full-faced helmet in an inoperative state;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational schematic view of the preferred embodimentof the position controlling mechanism in accordance with the presentinvention in its activated configuration for use;

FIG. 6 is another side elevational schematic view of the preferredembodiment of the position controlling mechanism in accordance with thepresent invention in its activated configuration for use;

FIG. 7 is still another side elevational schematic view of the preferredembodiment of the position controlling mechanism in accordance with thepresent invention in its activated configuration for use; and,

FIG. 8 is yet another side elevational schematic view of the preferredembodiment of the position controlling mechanism in accordance with thepresent invention in its activated configuration for use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention discloses a position controlling mechanismpivotally mounted on a side of a full-faced helmet 1 for adjusting thepositions of a chin guard 11 and a visor plate 14 of the helmet 1, andsome detailed parts of process for manufacturing or processing theposition controlling mechanism are accomplished by applying prior art.Therefore, these parts will not be completely depicted in thedescription below. The drawings referred in the following are not madeaccording to the actual related sizes, and the function of thesedrawings is only for illustrating characteristics related to the presentinvention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of the preferred embodiment of theposition controlling mechanism according to the present invention. Theposition controlling mechanism is assembled by at least a chin guard 11,at least a spring 12, at least a rotor 13, at least a visor plate 14, atleast an interaction gear 15, at least a transmission gear 16, at leasta rotative element 17, at least an elastic ring 18 and at least a visorplate base 19. The chin guard 11 is provided with at least a slidingpath 11 a, at least a pair of opposite sliding blocks 11 b, at least asliding groove 11 c formed in each sliding block 11 b, and at least afixing article 11 d. The spring 12 is disposed in the sliding hollow 13b of the rotor 13. The rotor 13 is formed with at least two distalsawtoothed portions 13 a, 13 a′, a sliding hollow 13 b, a fixing article13 c and a pivotal hole 13 d. The visor plate 14 is provided with atleast a sawtoothed engaging block 14 a, at least a hook portion 14 b andat least a sleeve hole 14 c, and the visor plate 14 is pivotally placedbetween the rotor 13 and the rotative element 17. The interaction gear15 is pivotally disposed on the visor plate base 19, and a pivotl holeis formed in the center. The transmission gear 16 is also pivotallydisposed on the visor plate base 19 and engaged with the interactiongear 15 and a sawtoothed section 17 a of the rotative element 17. Therotative element 17 is formed at least a sawtoothed section 17 a, atleast two engaging flanges 17 b on the outer periphery and a sleeve hole17 c formed in the center. The elastic ring 18 is dosposed in therotative element 17. The visor plate base 19 is provided with a pivotalblock at the center, a pivotal hole 19 a is formed in the center of thepivotal block, and a guiding post 19 b is disposed on the visor platebase 19. While being assembled, as shown in FIGS. 2,3, and 4, theinteraction gear 15 and the transmission gear 16 are respectivelypivotally secured to a surface of the visor plate base 19, and theelastic ring 18 is placed in the rotative element 17. After the sleeveholes 17 c and 14 c being sleeved on the pivotal block of the visorplate base 19, a rivot N is used to successively penetrate through thepivotal holes 13 d and 19 a and to be screwed to the visor plate base 19for the rotor 13, the visor plate 14, the rotative element 17 and thevisor plate base 19 to be pivotally assembled together. The spring 12 isplaced in the sliding hollow 13 b of the rotor 13, one end of the spring12 is secured to the fixing article 13 c, then the pair of oppositesliding blocks 11 b are inlaid into the sliding hollow 13 b of the rotor13, the other end of the spring 12 is secured to the fixing article 11 dof the chin guard 11, and the guiding post 19 b of the visor plate base19 penetrates through the sliding path 11 a of the chin guard 11 and ismovable along the sliding path 11 a.

While being activated, referring to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, when the chinguard 11 is moved upward, the distal sawtoothed portion 13 a′ of therotor 13 is engaged with the interaction gear 15, the interaction gear15 is engaged with the transmission gear 16, the the transmission gear16 is engaged with the sawtoothed section 17 a of the rotative element17, and the engaging flanges 17 b enables the sawtoothed engaging block14 a of the visor plate 14 to move upward to be positioned accordingly.When the chin guard 11 is further moved upward, the guiding post 19 b ofthe visor plate base 19 moves along the sliding path 11 a.

Referring to FIG. 8, when the chin guard 11 is further moved backward,the distal sawtoothed portion 13 a of the rotor 13 is engaged with theinteraction gear 15, the interaction gear 15 is engaged with thetransmission gear 16, the transmission gear 16 is engaged with thesawtoothed section 17 a of the rotative element 17, the engaging flanges17 b enables the sawtoothed engaging block 14 a of the visor plate 14 tomove downward to be positioned accordingly.

When the guiding post 19 b of the visor plate base 19 arrives at an endof the sliding path 11 a, the chin guard 11 is positioned on the back ofthe helmet 1, and the spring 12 is retracted in the sliding hollow 13 bof the rotor 13 responsive to the movement of the sliding blocks 11 b.

By means of the mechanism mentioned above, the rotor 13 is rotated totransmit rotation to the gear chain of the interaction gear 15, thetransmission gear 16 and the rotative element 17, so as for the chinguard 11 and the visor plate 14 to be moved between activated andretracted positions.

While the present invention has been described above by way of examplesand in terms of the preferred embodiment, it is to be recognized andunderstood that the present invention is not limited to the disclosedembodiments, it is intended to cover various modifications and similararrangements as may be made thereto, and the scope of the appendedclaims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompassall such modifications which may fall within the spirit and theinvention.

1. A position controlling mechanism for a chin guard and a visor plateof a helmet, comprising : at least a chin guard; at least a spring; atleast a rotor, said rotor being formed with at least two distalsawtoothed portions, a sliding hollow, a fixing article and a pivotalhole; at least a visor plate; at least an interaction gear; at least atransmission gear; at least a rotative element, said rotative elementbeing formed with at least a sawtoothed section, at least one engagingflange on the outer periphery; at least an elastic ring; and, at least avisor plate base; wherein said rotor is rotated to transmit rotation toa gear chain of said interaction gear, said transmission gear and saidrotative element, so as for said chin guard and said visor plate to bemoved between activated and retracted positions.
 2. The positioncontrolling mechanism for a chin guard and a visor plate of a helmetaccording to claim 1, wherein said chin guard is provided with at leasta sliding path, at least a pair of opposite sliding blocks, at least asliding groove formed in each said sliding block, and at least a fixingarticle.
 3. The position controlling mechanism for a chin guard and avisor plate of a helmet according to claim 1, wherein said spring isdisposed in said sliding hollow of said rotor.
 4. The positioncontrolling mechanism for a chin guard and a visor plate of a helmetaccording to claim 1, wherein said visor plate is provided with at leasta sawtoothed engaging block, at least a hook portion and at least asleeve hole, and said visor plate is pivotally placed between said rotorand said rotative element.
 5. The position controlling mechanism for achin guard and a visor plate of a helmet according to claim 1, whereinsaid interaction gear is pivotally disposed on said visor plate base,and a pivotl hole is formed in the center of said interaction gear. 6.The position controlling mechanism for a chin guard and a visor plate ofa helmet according to claim 1, wherein said transmission gear ispivotally disposed on said visor plate base and engaged with saidinteraction gear and said sawtoothed section of said rotative element.7. The position controlling mechanism for a chin guard and a visor plateof a helmet according to claim 1, wherein said visor plate base isprovided with a pivotal block at the center, a pivotal hole is formed insaid pivotal block, and a guiding post is disposed on said visor platebase.
 8. The position controlling mechanism for a chin guard and a visorplate of a helmet according to claim 1, wherein at least a sleeve holeis formed in said rotative element.
 9. The position controllingmechanism for a chin guard and a visor plate of a helmet according toclaim 1, wherein said elastic ring is dosposed in the rotative element.